What is digital anthropology? In an ongoing blog series, VINAYA's in-house anthropologist Sammi demonstrates through exploring different questions and ideas. Here, she explores how a more optimistic view of the merging of humans and technology.

We are never alone anymore. As the internet and devices become ubiquitous, so do our digital interactions and distractions. In support of National Day of Unplugging, our in-house psychologist explores the benefits of finding solitude and why it's important to unplug from time to time.

Last summer, while writing my Master’s dissertation on mindfulness and technology, I took part in VINAYA's three-day digital detox retreat in the Agafay Desert in Morocco. In honour of National Unplug Day, which takes place this weekend from March 4th to 5th, I’ve decided to open up my fieldnotes to share my experience of extreme, temporary disconnection.

The last decade of technological innovation has resulted in a rapidly responsive and dialled-in nation. We’re only ever of couple of taps away from our thousands of ‘friends’, and an infinite web of free, digestible information. We're more digitally connected than ever before, it's all so seamless and accessible. Too accessible, for some; sixty percent of people say they suffer from notification fatigue and are looking for ways to disconnect from their smartphone so that they can reconnect with real life.

There's no need to re-state the statistics on phone checking. We all acknowledge we spend too much time staring at a screen, but wasted time aside, more concerning is our decreasing level of patience, reduced levels of empathy, dwindling conversational skills, challenges with real human connection and our inability to be alone with our own thoughts... not to mention the negative effects smartphones are having on our ability to focus.

The negative effects of elevated cortisol levels caused in part by digital overstimulation and stress are endless. Some of the most noteworthy symptoms are the negative impact it has on our immune system and our deteriorating memory recall ability. You may have noticed the people who are busy and stressed are often sick - this correlation has been confirmed by doctors who have studied how cortisol affects our immune system by interfering with T-cell production and function (i.e. our immune cells), thus making us more susceptible to invading pathogens. This was outlined in a longitudinal study that compiled over 30 years of research to find correlations between acute stressors, increased cortisol and lowered immune response.